David Murray has expressed his disappointment over the Supreme Court ruling that he ran an illegal tax scam at Rangers for over a decade.
Murray pocketed a £6m EBT payment and paid himself £500,000 a year for administering the scheme.
While he brought glory and fame to Rangers the tax time bomb was ticking away with Craig Whyte picking up the toxic issue when he paid £1 for the club in May 2011.
A year later, with no verdict over the Big Tax Case Rangers were placed in liquidation with no wealthy fans prepared to touch the club.
Murray may now find himself in the firing line as HMRC begin the task of getting Barry Ferguson, Alex Rae, Neil McCann, Alex McLeish and Steven Thompson to repay their tax liability plus interest and penalties.
Responding to the decision in a statement issued to the Press Association, Murray said: “I am hugely disappointed that the Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Court of Session, reversing the decisions of the specialist tax First Tier Tribunal and the Upper Tribunal in this matter.
“The decision runs counter to the legal advice which was consistently provided to Rangers Football Club, that on the basis of the law and legal precedent at the time, the contributions made to the trust were not earnings and should not be taxed as such.
“It should be emphasised that there have been no allegations made by HMRC or any of the courts that the club was involved in tax evasion, which is a criminal offence. “The decision will be greeted with dismay by the ordinary creditors of the club, many of which are small businesses, who will now receive a much lower distribution in the liquidation of the club, which occurred during the ownership of Craig Whyte, than may otherwise have been the case.
“I have not had the opportunity to discuss the decision in detail with Tax Counsel, but will do so, particularly in light of proposed legislation, which will alter the tax position applying to loans made by trusts to employees. Once the impact has been assessed, a further statement will be issued.”
During the tax scam years Rangers (IL) won five SPL titles giving them access to the Champions League at the expense of other Scottish clubs.